I had Ms. Barksdale first period for economics and I was in her class when we heard the news. A plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers. To a high school freshman in Mississippi this news was stunning and overwhelming, but I was completely unable to comprehend what it meant. In a state of confusion rather than one of anger or fear, I went with my class to Ms. Lacey's biology classroom. Ms. Lacey had a television and we watched live as the second plane crashed into the second tower. The image will be seared into my memory for the rest of my life.
Ten years later I still feel stunned and overwhelmed. I now feel anger and fear and a host of other emotions as well. The attacks of September 11 represent the lowest of what humanity is capable of and the heroic events following those attacks represent the best. The world changed forever that day and the new reality is one that I still grapple with daily.
I need not implore you never to forget 9/11, you could not if you tried. But on the 10th anniversary remember to say a prayer for all of the victims, all of the heroes and all of us in our great nation. God Bless America.
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